EncDate:31/08/22 

EncSeq:1

Enc#*53

ObservBegin:11:40 PM

ObservEnd:02:00 PM

Vessel:Orcinus

Staff:Dave Ellifrit

Other Observers:Mia Lybkaer Kronborg Nielsen, Rachel John, Federica Spina

Pods:Transients

LocationDescr:Haro Strait

Start Latitude:48 39.44

Start Longitude:123 12.94

End Latitude:48 38.42

End Longitude:123 16.71

 

EncSummary:

The team was working in the office when they heard about a group of transients in Haro Strait. We left Snug Harbor at 1115 and got on scene at 1140 about three quarters of a mile south of TipTop Hill on Stuart Island. There were one or two whales that were several hundred yards from the others when we first arrived but, after a long dive, everyone soon came back together in a single group. The whales, who were T19, T19B, and the T49As minus T49A1 and T49A2, were usually non-directional and milling whenever they surfaced from a long dive. They were rarely pointed in the same direction twice after consecutive long dives. The group started out pointed toward the northwest but then turned west. They then turned northwest again toward Tom Point on the east tip of Gooch Island. When they neared Tom Point, they turned south and began heading back toward Mandarte Island. They milled in the area just north of Mandarte Island for several series of surfacings. The whales may have been resting throughout the encounter but it was hard to tell because of all the non-directional milling when they were between long dives. We ended the encounter at 1400 with the whales pointed north again about a quarter mile north of the east end of Mandarte Island.